Board Game Arena

I am sorry but red thumbs are ridiculous and so is the message that BGA send you after you have received a red thumb.

You get red thumbs for anything and nothing just on the whim of some disgruntled player because they lost a game sometimes, or even for saying goodnight in someone else's language trying to be friendly. - and no, I did not make a mistake.

Also, players simply don't give other players green thumbs unless they have been extraordinarily friendly and chatted during the game which risks the possibility of misunderstanding as BGA puts it and thus a red thumb.

I just got a red thumb notice from BGA, so I guess someone gave me a red thumb in the last hour, but of all the games - not many - I have played in the last week nobody has given me a red thumb.

This is crazy and dampens my enthusiasm for playing on BGA, I have alreday stopped paying for premium membership because of this ridiculous situation and adequate recourse to contest arbitrary, whimsical decisions.

I can't speak to the decision making process of everyone who gives red thumbs. I know mine are not arbitrary.

However, it's absolutely not true that no-one gives green thumbs unless someone has been extraordinarily friendly and chatty. I hate the whole 'GLHF' thing and quite often give green thumbs to someone who just manages to get through a game without saying anything inane, making me wait forever or making it clear they have started a game without making much effort to acquire the rules. (I also give green thumbs to people I end up having interesting conversations with, but those are less common.)

And if everyone only gave green thumbs in the rare situation you describe, no-one would have any red thumbs left for their capricious ruining of your week.

I give green thumbs to:

Everyone I play a real time game with, without issues, and they played noticeably well.

In turnbased games, I apologize as I rarely return to the game when I lose out of turn. But if I win, I do green thulb anyone whose names I recognize from frequent plays, or if I've enjoying their play in an exceptional way.

I very rarely red thumb, unless someone really deserved it.

I totally agree with you, TheRenegadeGamer

Red thumbs are given out like churros. On the other hand, it is very difficult to get green thumbs

Some players, not all, are very overbearing and dont get the goal of the game is to have fun. If you had made a mistake, they incriminate you publically and then red thumbs you, instead of giving you an opporttunity. Others,red thumb you with no prior reason, the info they get is what people are talking behind your back(very common in BGA) and never checks if that statement is true or not

BGA mistake is letting players red thumb others with no valid reason (for BGA red thumbing is subjective instead of impartial).

In sum, Red thumbs are not helpful because players are not using it the right way. The same goes with reports. In my opinion, I would take out these to features off BGA

Archie L wrote: ↑28 April 2022, 10:36Others,red thumb you with no prior reason, the info they get is what people are talking behind your back(very common in BGA) and never checks if that statement is true or not

You cannot give public red thumbs to someone you have not actually played with. The private red thumbs don't affect karma, as explained in this thread by site admin sourisdudesert. Perhaps the FAQ should be rewritten to clarify this.

What makes you assume people don't give green thumbs?

I try to green thumb everyone I play with (real-time and turn-based) as long as there were no issues.
In the rare instance where I've given a red thumb, the majority have been just for me to not play with the person again (i.e. not public).

I imagine there are others like me.

I predicted that most of the replies this would generate would be to tell me how frequently and easily people give green thumbs.

I didn't really need to know that there was a small number of people that give green thumbs for conduct that should be a given - which is good of you guys.

Well, I think you guys are very much in the minority, and that there are disproportionatly more red-thumbs dished out than there are green thumbs given.

Therefore, and the point of my post, there is little chance that you can get the rate of over 10% of 'the people you have played with that have given you a red-thumb' down safely below 10% by getting more green thumbs than red over the following weeks and months. And, the fact there is a message telling everyone that looks at your account page of this information, may well encourage some players to give a red-thumb for a laugh or for next to nothing.

For example, I was given a red thumb because I followed the other players in deciding not to choose HR in a game of Carnegie which continued for the second half of the game and diminished the experience. However, I didn't begin this state of play and I was under no obligation to be the one to choose HR, but I was blamed by one player for the demise of the game - possibly because I had the lowest ELO

On this note, I will actively increase my green thumb giving because it is not up to your level. But, I still believe in what I initialy posted.

You can claim what you want and put aside all others anecdotes, but there still are the facts, which means that it can‘t be as flawed a system as you say it:

- Public red thumbs are limited: You only can give 1 red thumb for every 5 green thumbs you gave
- Private red thumbs are unlimited, but don‘t affect your karma if you get too many of these.

In conclusion, receiving public red thumbs usually has a good reason, as they are too valuable to waste on small issues.

Aesche, do you even really know specifically what you a replying about?

Yes, I am aware of the ratio of 1 public red thumb to 5 green thumbs. One problem, that is for one person. Not everybody that has given me a red thumb is the same person, obviously.

Secondly, my initial point was not simply that it is too easy to give red thumbs, however, it actually is far too easy to give private red thumbs and they are thrown around by some players like confetti at a wedding.

My initial point was that it is seriously difficult to get green thumbs relative to how easy it is to get private red thumbs, THUS, it is really unlikely that a player that has received red thumbs from over 10% of the players he/she has played with, will get well below 10% by receiving enough green thumbs so that if they incur another red thumb that their karma won't be savaged.

So your points have little relevance.
"You can claim what you want and put aside all others anecdotes, but there still are the facts, which means that it can‘t be as flawed a system as you say it:

- Public red thumbs are limited: You only can give 1 red thumb for every 5 green thumbs you gave
- Private red thumbs are unlimited, but don‘t affect your karma if you get too many of these.

In conclusion, receiving public red thumbs usually has a good reason, as they are too valuable to waste on small issues."